The Chart Room is an interesting place. All type conversations. A multitude of topics covered over the years. Never like last night, however.

A woman’s lips, breasts and nipples.

I did not participate. Sat at the end of the bar with my head down. Afraid someone would ask what I thought.

Four people plus me at the bar. John bartending.

Evan and Liz locals. Young. Late 20’s, early 30’s. Chris and husband. I did not get the husband’s name. Vacationing from southern Pennsylvania. Mid 60’s.

The female body exploration began with lip augmentation. Referred to as big lips in the conversation. All four going at it. The consensus was it was stupid and looked awful. They could not understand why anyone would do it.

Then came nipples. Breast nipples. Chris from a little town in Pennsylvania said size did not matter. Sensitivity did. The four got into inverted nipples, also.

Then we got to a point where I thought I could safely participate. Snow. Huge snowfalls.

Upstate New York thought the place for the worst. Buffalo and Rochester. Then Syracuse. Liz piped up she was from Syracuse. At that point, I got involved. From Utica and went to law school at SU.

Glad I stopped at the Chart Room. An unusual conversation. I had not intended to stop. As you will see from the next few paragraphs, it was the venue of last choice.

My day began at Verizon. Got the video problem figured out. The wi-fi was off. I must have hit a wrong button. Don’t see how. To screw it up, I would have had to hit the app key and then four more. I have never gotten that deep into my cell phone.

An early dinner at Roostica. Lemoncello wings. Spoke a while with owner Bobby. A wedding outside. Tablecloths. Everyone dressed. Laughter from every direction.

Then to bocce. Everyone playing but my team and another. For some reason, the game had been cancelled.

I sat with Sharon a while. Sons and Daughters of Italy playing.

Then to Don’s Place. When no game, the team is there. Not last night. Three guys at the bar and Michael bartending.

I was beginning to wonder why I showered and shaved.

Left for the Chart Room.

William Hackley won some money in 1856 in the Havana Lottery. He and three others purchased a ticket together. Won $400. $100 a piece. A lot of money back then.

The top prize was $60,000. At least $6 million today. Maybe, $60 million.

Hackley mentioned that he and his wife attended the funeral of the child Fanny Porter. Whooping cough killed her.

No vaccinations back then. Vaccinations today. Not perfect. Better safe than sorry, however.

Every one wants a piece of the Ukraine. Good growing fields and excellent mineral deposits.

Putin got as piece two years ago. Near the end of World War I, Germany’s Kaiser and Austria signed a pact to exploit Ukraine’s economic benefits. What a joke! The pact was signed this date 1918. World War I ended six months later on November 11, 1918. Germany and her friends defeated.

The Kaiser did get to exploit Ukraine within those six months. He demanded and received 100 million tons of food rations from Ukraine.

I came across the name Dante in my readings. Not the Dante I am familiar with. However it did recall Durante degli Alighieri, better known as Dante. A distinguished poet in the Middle Ages. Thought to be one of the best writers of his time.

His most famous work the Divine Comedy.

I took two years of Spanish in college. My teacher was Professor Cantatore. Italian. A small elderly man. His enthusiasm for Dante greater than his body size. A cultured man.

Every class, the good Professor drummed into us to read one page of Dante’s Comedy a day.

I never bought the Comedy. I did read a few pages when the opportunity arose. One of my college jobs was working the main desk in the library. A quiet uneventful position. I would take the Comedy off the shelf and absorb some of Dante’s wisdom.

Last but not least. Betsy Dietz died. Seventy five. Finally succumbed to uterine cancer after ten years.

Betsy lived in Key West so many years. She gave to the community. Involved heavily. Helped get AIDS Help started. Active at the beginning and over the years with the King and Queen Festival. A member of numerous boards.

Betsy and Lisa good friends. Every Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Betsy shared the holiday with Lisa, the grandkids, Santa Claus and me.